Science Express: How do we best manage our natural resources?

In this month’s Science Express, freshwater ecologist Mike Joy explores the impact of New Zealand’s rapidly expanding primary industries on our water resources.

In 2013, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment released the report Water Quality in New Zealand: Land Use and Nutrient Pollution­. The report concluded that without significantly more intervention, we will continue to see water quality deteriorate in catchments across the country.

In the report’s wake, Mike asks what needs to happen if New Zealand is to regain its clean, green image.

Mike Joy

Dr Mike Joy is Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science at Massey University and an outspoken advocate for environmental protection in New Zealand. He has been recognised with Forest and Bird’s ‘Old Blue’ award and in 2009 was named North and South magazine’s ‘Environmental New Zealander of the Year’. In 2013, he received the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Charles Fleming Award for Environmental Achievement.